


Only In My Dreams

by OlkarianPrincess



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Pidge | Katie Holt, Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Galra Pidge | Katie Holt, Holidays, Pidge Holiday Exchange 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 01:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17437208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlkarianPrincess/pseuds/OlkarianPrincess
Summary: In another world, in another life, Altea and Daibazaal are allies in a peaceful universe. Prince Lotor is friends with the paladins of Voltron and wants to be more than friends with his childhood friend and assistant to his mother, one Katie Holt.





	Only In My Dreams

**Author's Note:**

  * For [N1t3sh4d3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/N1t3sh4d3/gifts).



> IM SORRY ITS LATE I WASNT SURE WHAT YOU LIKED BUT I HOPE YOU LIKE IT

“I thought I’d find you here.”

The beautiful woman turned at his soft words, which had startled the natural silence she’d fallen into, and gave Lotor a wide smile. Oh how her golden locks contrasted the lilac hue of her delicate skin--how her all-knowing brown eyes managed to always pierce the deepest parts of her soul. And yet as he approached the scientist in the quiet field she sat in, he knew there was still one very important secret that he’d managed to keep from her all those years: his love.

“Lotor,” Pidge greeted him. “Shouldn’t you be attending some important duties with the princess.”

She looked over her shoulder to the royal castle which stood in the distance, its silhouette a reminder of the triumph of peace in the galaxy. The Galra and the Alteans had really done it. Against all odds, they’d instilled serenity across not only their own star systems, but star systems throughout the entire universe. He and Pidge knew that well, for they were symbols of that fateful union of peoples.

Lotor meant to move closer to Pidge in calm strides, as if he were gliding through the grass, and sit gracefully by her side, but instead his eyes caught the gold crescents on her cheek. Enamored with them and all they represented, his breath caught in his throat and he stumbled, flopping down beside his friend in a disastrous manner. Wincing as she let out a loud laugh, he still smiled at the sound of her happiness (even if it was at his pain).

“You’re so clumsy for a prince,” she teased as she had since they were kids.

“Oh hush. I can compose myself when it’s important.”

“Oh so I’m not important?” she snorted. “Alright, my liege.”

Lotor’s heart thumped at her words and he had to turn away.

“Come on Pidge, don’t address me like that.”

“Why not, my future Emperor? King of our people.”

“Oh hilarious. We both know you don’t give two damns about royalty. Who was it that told Allura ‘you’re no princess of mine!’ in front of the entire Altean royal court! How old were you then?”

Pidge laughed again and the sound made Lotor feel as though he was flying through the heavens.

“I wish you’d stop holding that over my head. We were kids, and it’s always been weird. I’m well behaved now.”

Turning to face her, the Galra prince pursed his lips and raised a brow.

“Mmm-hmm.”

Pidge groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Oh come on,  _ my prince. _ ”

“Bullshit. Yesterday I heard you call the Galra Empress a ‘quiznacking toad.’ To her face!”

Pidge bursted out into laughter again.

“But she was being one! She wouldn’t let me adjust the thermo manipulators again even though I  _ knew _ it would fix the issue we’ve been having with the regulators.”

It was Lotor’s turn to roll his eyes. He had serious doubts that even if Pidge hadn’t been raised in both the royal courts of the Alteans and the Galra, and  _ even _ if she was never hand-picked to be trained as Honerva’s apprentice, the feisty woman would still disregard authority and do what she wanted. It was one of the many things he loved about her.

_ Love. _

As it was, it gripped him nearly to the point of suffocation. When he felt a whiff of Katie’s soap as she passed by, he felt his breath stolen away. When he saw her sparkling eyes, filled with wonder at the little pieces of the universe she and Honerva uncovered, he felt his body melt. And when he stared into the bright Altean sky, long after her lion had departed to join the team of peacekeepers that she’d been called to serve, his heart mourned the loss of her presence at his side. And yet, he was unable to speak his love. His father encouraged it ( _ perhaps he was overly thrilled at the idea of Pidge as his daughter-in-law _ ) and had actually insisted that the prince bring his friend to the Allsquiet Dinner the following evening.

But everytime Lotor thought to bring up the topic, the same love that begged for Pidge’s warmth prevented the words from leaving his mouth.

“Well I have to go,” Pidge said, interrupting their conversation. “Her  _ highness _ wants me to consult with her on some ‘very important matters.’”

“Does the princess need help picking a dress for Allsquiet?” Lotor gave her a toothy grin.

Pidge groaned. He was right on the spot.

Before he could reach out and speak on the subject--ask her to come dine with his family for the holiday--she was out of his sight. Sighing, Lotor flopped down into the grass and prayed to the gods that he could apply the same strength he found in battle to confessing to the love of his life.

His eyes slipped close, and then they quickly opened--startled.

A darkness filling his sight where there should’ve been a gorgeous landscape, Lotor’s brain began to panic. In a second he was upright, the dim lighting that leaked into the room slowly altering his vision to the point where he could see. Drawing in several breaths, Lotor realized that he was not Lotor at all. He was Pidge.

Pidge took several more breaths and brought her hands to her face, slowly coming to terms with the dream she’d just had. Of course it was all a dream. Brushing her sweaty bangs from her forehead where they clung to her skin, she allowed her body to relish in the cold night’s air. Too tired to contemplate exactly why her psyche gave her visions of a made-up reality, she quickly flipped her pillow around and slumped back onto it.

The cool fabric soothed her skin and soon she was carried light years away to a different world, in a different timeline.

“You’re not blinking.”

The voice drew Lotor’s attention away from the thing he’d been staring intently at. For just a moment, his mind paused, dazed and confused as it tried to reemerge from his daydream back into reality. Turning his head away from the class, he met purple eyes. With a sigh, Lotor pushed his shoulder off the wall he’d been leaning against and adjusted to full face Keith.

“You concerned for me, half-breed?”

Keith paused, pursed his lips, and then rolled his eyes.

“You’ve been using that joke for a thousand years now,” the red paladin threw his hands up into the air. “Literally everyone around you is a half-breed. You’re a half-breed!”

Keith’s tone was elevated, but his lips curved into a smile. They never acted like they liked each other, but Lotor had grown fond of the man in the many years since they’d first met.

“Oh hush,” Lotor dismissed Keith with a wave of his wrist, his eyes glancing quickly back through the glass beside him.

He didn’t miss Keith’s wide grin, nor did he fail to observe how the man’s eyes were trained on him like a wolf about to slaughter his prey.

Or in this case, embarrass.

“The Empress’s work is fascinating, isn’t it?” Keith moved to join Lotor by the window.

The prince hummed in reply, turning back to peer through the window and into the lab, his eyes trained on the young scientist that worked within it.

“But of course, her assistant is even more captivating,” Keith continued.

Lotor agreed verbally before he could catch himself.

“Aha! That’s it! You have it so bad for Pidge,” Keith’s calm mask was all but lost.

Lotor groaned. The last thing he needed was more gossip about his love life spreading, and everyone underneath the goddess’s reign knew that the paladins had the biggest mouths of them all. Butterflies filling his stomach, the prince drew in a deep breath, silent breath through his teeth and kept his expression steady.

“Oh,” Keith’s tone was soft.

A warm, heavy hand fell on Lotor’s shoulder. Afraid to give away even more of his not-so-carefully guarded feelings, the prince declined his urge to meet the intense gaze of the paladin whose hand was on him. Silence enveloping the room, the sound whirring of machines bled in from the lab. A peaceful sort of music, directing the dance of an alchemist’s life, filled his hears from the otherwise mundane noises. Lotor heard a sigh break the tense stillness.

“You have to tell her. Trust me.”

And then the hand was gone. Footsteps fell behind him, growing quieter each time their noise met his ears, and then there was nothing but him and the noise of the machines.

“I do.”

Keith was right, and Lotor knew it, but he was not about to disclose the feelings he’d held so tightly to his heart in the alchemist’s lab. Rather, he reached the conclusion that it had to be something he did at dinner--the Allsquiet dinner, which he knew he had to muster the courage to invite Pidge to.

For the second time, Pidge’s eyes opened on a dark room, only she wasn’t as disoriented as she had been during her first period of consciousness. Her lack of confusion wasn’t the only difference between the two instances. The second time that Pidge awoke from a dream of a warmer, happier life and found herself in a cold, empty room instead, she reached up with her fingers and felt the hot tears that streamed down her face.

Something about her dream drained all life from her room and left her feeling like the hollow shell of the woman she once was. Unable to prevent the sobs that slipped from her lips, she brought her knees up and pressed her face into them, not wanting to wake anyone else. For a reason that was beyond her understanding, her heart mourned the loss of a life that never was and a man she never knew. It didn’t make sense, but it hurt nevertheless. It hurt and she wept--until her tears carried her off into a deep slumber once more.

“Pidge?”

The woman snapped her head around but didn’t jump. Sure, the book she was engrossed in had swept her away from all consciousness of her surroundings, but the voice that called her name was soothing and familiar. A smile on her face, she met Lotor’s eyes and offered a warm greeting.

“Come sit with me,” she motioned to a spot next to her.

Lotor glanced up at the tree and then back down at her with a grin.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time in the gardens,” the prince noted.

“Oh have you been watching me, my lord?” she felt a heat rise to her cheeks as the words slipped her lips and she mentally chastised herself for such a flirtatious remark.

Lotor, apparently, thought nothing of it. He merely cleared his throat before making a grand show of rolling his eyes.

“Mother’s been complaining that her prized pupil would rather spend time frolicking about the plants than with her,” Lotor said in the most obnoxious voice he could muster.

Pidge wrinkled her nose and then responded in kind.

“Oh I am hardly ‘frolicking.’ It’s more like ‘galavanting,’ I’d say.”

Before the prince could think up a response, the two of them bursted out into laughter. Pidge could hear herself snorting, and yet she didn’t care. Warmth filled her heart and comfort her soul. Being with Lotor was like being with her family, only she felt a connection to him that was certainly more than familial, not that she ever wanted to admit it to herself. 

When she noticed that it was her laughter alone which the wind carried, she brought her eyes to observe her friend and see what was wrong. Staring at her, the edges of Lotor’s lips curved into a beautiful smile.

“Pidge...” her name slipped his lips, carried by a low, throaty voice, and like that her breath was stolen away.

“I wanted to tell you this tonight, at dinner. Father wanted me to invite you to Allsquiet. But...well, I can’t wait.”

“What is it?”

Pidge wasn’t sure if her words were even audible or not.

“It’s...”

Lotor looked down at the grass beneath their hands and then back up at her. Eyes aglow with a flame that could outshine any star, he breached the gap between them. Warm skin on her cheek, she closed her eyes as their lips met in a perfect, beautiful kiss.

Gasping, Pidge opened her eyes, her heart threatening to pound out of her chest. Darkness filled her vision once more, but this time it was not met with a sullen peace. Grasping at her sheets, she desperately tried to bring it back, to bring  _ him _ back. But it was nothing more than a feeble attempt. Knowing that she could do nothing to reach that life again, she sprung from her bed and began pacing her room, her fingers clawing at her hair. With nowhere to go, nothing to do, and the emotions of a million people on a million different planets filling her soul all at once, she yanked her bedroom door open and sprinted down the hall. Her mind told her to find the stars and sit beneath them--to sip in the cool air of freedom and allow her feelings to disperse, so she raced for the door that would grant her heart it’s desire.

But she was stopped in her tracks. At the end of the hall stood a man that shouldn’t have been there--a man she’d seen in her dreams.

“It’s you...” she choked out.

And then she ran into his arms.


End file.
